Ohio will play for bowl eligibility against Kent State Tuesday.
Things can change quickly. A little too quickly if you're the Bobcats.
After an array of injuries and three consecutive losses, Ohio looks like a team struggling to find continuity, not a team that was once 5-1.
Facing a three-game losing streak, Ohio will attempt to break its worst losing streak since 2013 against Kent State Tuesday night.
"We’re headed in the wrong direction right now, and we have to get it turned around," Ohio coach Frank Solich said. "I think that there are several factors that play into that, some that we can control and some that we cannot."
Truthfully, it hasn't always looked this bleak for the Bobcats. Before the injury of playmaker Papi White and linebacker Quentin Poling, the Bobcats were a premier team in the MAC — or at least looking to challenge for a MAC Championship.
But after being outscored 152-55 against Bowling Green, Buffalo and Western Michigan, Ohio's outlook has changed.
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“That’s part of coaching, to make sure you don’t let a team fall off course to a point where they can’t get back on course," Solich said. "We can get back on course, there’s no question about it. We play a team (Kent) that is one or two in major categories in terms of defensive football in the conference, and their national statistics hold up. They’re really a good football team and traditionally play good defense."
Injuries have mostly ruined Ohio's trajectory in the MAC, but Solich and company's destiny is still salvageable.
Ohio's chance for a MAC Championship has faded into a "what if" discussion, but a chance to play a bowl is still well intact.
"If we get a bowl game it’s because we earn it," Solich said. "Right now, we haven’t earned it. We’re interested in getting back to our best football and letting things fall where they may. We haven’t played our best football in the last three games. We’ve played quality opponents, but we haven’t played our best football."
Things have changed, but Ohio's road to recovery will change one game at a time — or against Kent Tuesday night at Peden Stadium.
“Some of it you can’t control," Solich said. "You can control the position you put your players in."
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